Arguing the case against coercion
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Debra Ziegeler
Abstract
Recent work in cognitive linguistics has hired the term coercion which was formerly associated with computational linguistics to apply to a number of instances in the study of natural language in which there is an incongruity between the semantics of a syntactic frame and the semantics of lexical items found in it. Some of these instances illustrate areas which could well be described as extensions of aspectual boundaries in which the harmony between lexical and grammatical aspect has been penetrated; others illustrate mismatch in nominal phrases, in which the usual parameters that apply have been violated. The purpose of the present chapter is to analyse three individual cases as they have been presented in recent accounts, and to investigate whether such cases could be explained either by pragmatic factors such as metonymic inferencing, or by considering them in the light of their diachronic development. It will then be questioned whether or not a unique phenomenon of coercion can be justified in the context of natural language at all.
Abstract
Recent work in cognitive linguistics has hired the term coercion which was formerly associated with computational linguistics to apply to a number of instances in the study of natural language in which there is an incongruity between the semantics of a syntactic frame and the semantics of lexical items found in it. Some of these instances illustrate areas which could well be described as extensions of aspectual boundaries in which the harmony between lexical and grammatical aspect has been penetrated; others illustrate mismatch in nominal phrases, in which the usual parameters that apply have been violated. The purpose of the present chapter is to analyse three individual cases as they have been presented in recent accounts, and to investigate whether such cases could be explained either by pragmatic factors such as metonymic inferencing, or by considering them in the light of their diachronic development. It will then be questioned whether or not a unique phenomenon of coercion can be justified in the context of natural language at all.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction. The construction of meaning in language 1
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Part I: Metonymy and metaphor
- Experiential tests of figurative meaning construction 19
- High-level metaphor and metonymy in meaning construction 33
- The role of metonymy in meaning construction at discourse level 51
- Chained metonymies in lexicon and grammar 77
- Arguing the case against coercion 99
- When Zidane is not simply Zidane, and Bill Gates is not just Bill Gates 125
- Collocational overlap can guide metaphor interpretation 143
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Part II: Mental spaces and conceptual blending
- Constructing the meanings of personal pronouns 171
- The construction of meaning in relative clauses 189
- Constraints on inferential constructions 207
- The construction of vagueness 225
- Communication or memory mismatch? 247
- Brutal Brits and persuasive Americans 265
- Index of authors 283
- Index of subjects 285
- Index of metonymies and metaphors 289
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction. The construction of meaning in language 1
-
Part I: Metonymy and metaphor
- Experiential tests of figurative meaning construction 19
- High-level metaphor and metonymy in meaning construction 33
- The role of metonymy in meaning construction at discourse level 51
- Chained metonymies in lexicon and grammar 77
- Arguing the case against coercion 99
- When Zidane is not simply Zidane, and Bill Gates is not just Bill Gates 125
- Collocational overlap can guide metaphor interpretation 143
-
Part II: Mental spaces and conceptual blending
- Constructing the meanings of personal pronouns 171
- The construction of meaning in relative clauses 189
- Constraints on inferential constructions 207
- The construction of vagueness 225
- Communication or memory mismatch? 247
- Brutal Brits and persuasive Americans 265
- Index of authors 283
- Index of subjects 285
- Index of metonymies and metaphors 289
